She's a Ninja
by Jumping JellyBean
Summary: Ever wanted to be a ninja? Read and see which of the team can be a ninja if they want to be. Short story focused mainly on Tony and Ziva with a dash of McGee at the end. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**She's a Ninja**

_**Summary: **_Ever wanted to be a ninja? I have, I admit it. It's one of those childhood fantasies I will hold on to forever, even when I'm 85 (well, maybe not then…) Anyway, a kind of suspenseful short story with a nice little lift at the end and only a slightly silly title.

_**Disclaimer:**_ Oh if only these characters belonged to me…

Chapter 1

Running... dark… wet… someone was definitely following him_._ Leaves and branches appeared out of the gloom in the falling rain, catching his face and marking him further. Blindly he ran on. _Are they okay… where would he have taken her… where am I going? _He was running out of stamina, even with the adrenaline pumping. _Need to call-_

The ground suddenly dropped from beneath his feet. He tumbled down the steep slope, head over heels. Leaves coated his soaked frame. The slope leveled out and he lay still, unmoving. The noise of his flight gave way to the silence of the woods.

Mere moments later lights appeared at the top of the hill. Strong LED lights swept across the slope. The man pulled himself from unconsciousness and saw the bright white beams sweeping over the forest. He didn't dare move for fear of being seen. A sharp pain in his torso and an even sharper ache in his foot indicated the possibility of bruised and broken bones. The lights moved closer and closer to where he lay silent and scared.

"Where did he go? We had him and then he disappeared." A voice behind the light.

"You sure you saw him fell?" That voice was younger.

"Of course! He was running between those two trees when he fell forward. I thought he had tripped on a root or slipped on a rock."

Their voices started moving closer. The man they searched for didn't dare make a move, for he had no weapon. The holster on his hip was empty; the gun that was supposed to be there was lost somewhere at the beginning of his path of flight.

"Look down the hill. He couldn't have made it far. Maybe he knocked himself out."

Barley raising his head an inch, the man lifted his head and looked up. He saw two solidly built men scanning the hill, searching for a way down. One took a step and started sliding with surprising speed. He yelped in surprise and scrambled back up. "More like he broke his neck. That hill is way too steep to walk or run down, especially in the rain. He probably fell and hit those rocks." The flashlight lit up a group of large, jagged rocks not three feet from his position. He uttered a silent thanks to whatever powers out there that saved him. "The ground is all churned up right there. See where he probably fell?"

"Maybe, but we need to be sure. The boss won't be happy if we come back empty handed."

"If he's dead we don't need to bring him back, do we?"

"No evidence. That's what the boss said. The rain can wash away any blood, but we can't leave a body out here. Besides the boss wants to use them as bait."

The lights actually moved over him, blinding him for a moment. He froze even more still than before.

"Look over there." The lights moved away. "The hill looks less steep. Let's try that."

The voices moved away a short distance. The one they sought stirred. He knew they would be back soon. He tried to sit up but was stopped short by the fire that erupted in his side. _Definitely some broken ribs._ He looked and saw his trackers picking their way carefully down some rocks. In desperation he pulled his phone from his pocket. The screen was broken but it thankfully still worked. He pushed a number and held the phone to his ear.

"_Aren't you guys done yet DiNozzo?"_

"Boss, we're in trouble."

"_What-"_

"Shh, I have two guys looking for me not fifty feet away. Just listen."

"_Go."_

"The cabin had four goons, and they were ready for us. One knocked McGee right in the face. One grabbed Ziva and dragged her outside. I don't know where she is, the guy dragged her somewhere. Two took me outside and stripped me of my gun and badge. The goon inside said something and McGee yelled at me to run. I couldn't help so I ran…thinking I could get help…or something."

If Gibbs on the other end was angry or surprised he didn't show it. _"Where'd you run?"_

"I don't know. Away from the road. They were shooting and I hoped to run into the guy with Ziva, but I didn't see her. But-" Tony stopped talking. The two had made it down the slope and were combing the ground, coming closer. "Boss," Tony whispered, "I fell down a hill and I'm hurt bad. I can't run and they're close."

"_Keep your phone on and near you. I'll get Abby to trace the signal."_

"Got it."

"_And Tony…"_

"Yeah?"

"_Play dead or something. Don't let them kill you."_

Tony chuckled softly. "Got it Boss." He slipped the phone, still on, back into his pocket and laid his head back on the ground. It took all of his control to not flinch as the voices moved closer. For a moment he thought they hadn't seen him. Until-

"Hey Marty, I think I see him."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The light was blinding, even through his closed eyelids. Two pairs of feet came running. One nudged Tony with his foot. Tony involuntarily moaned as the boot made contact with his broken ribs.

"What do you know, he's alive," the younger sneered. "Probably broke something on his way down." He roughly rolled Tony on his back and shone a light into his eyes. "Wake up Sleeping Beauty."

Tony faked moan (though he really wasn't faking much), as if he had just regained consciousness. He shielded his eyes from the light with a slightly bloody hand. He faked a second moan and lay back on the ground. _Hope I'm not chalking this up too much._

"Doesn't look like he's really coherent. It'll be a pain to get him back."

"No kidding." The elder of the two nudged Tony's leg with his foot. "Come on boy, get up. We ain't going to carry you."

Tony stirred and sat up. He faked some dizziness by sinking heavily back to the ground and moaning. The movements were disturbing his ribs, so the moaning part was easy.

The younger of the two sighed. "Looks like he knocked himself out pretty good."

"Yeah. Let's just get this over with." A distant boom sounded. The elder looked at the cloudy sky. "The sooner we move, the less likely we are to get caught in the worse of the storm. I'm not interested in hiking through these woods in a thunderstorm." The two kneeled on the wet ground and grabbed Tony's arms.

A branch snapped loudly behind them. They turned around quickly. "What was that?"

"How would I know?" The two listened carefully. Together they picked up their flashlights and aimed them out further into the trees. The overhead canopy and the closeness of the trees made for poor visibility. Eerie shadows danced between the rocks and leaves. The falling rain made an almost sinister hissing noise, like something was being pulled over the leafy forest floor. A second crack of thunder boomed, closer than the first. They both sat, holding their breaths. Tony lay still, trying to make a plan. After a few moments the younger man let out his breath with a whoosh. He turned to his companion and gave a strained laugh. "I don't think-"

Something flew out from between the trees to their left. It hit one of the flashlights and caused the bulb to shatter into many pieces with a loud popping sound. The two sprang to their feet in unison. They scanned the forest, searching for the source of the attack.

Lightning flashed across the sky, blinding the party. A dark figure seemed to melt out of a tree and fly towards them. It hit the sole remaining flashlight and took the man down with it, knocking him out cold. The stranger jumped off him and melted back into the darkness. The younger man swept the flashlight up off the ground and swung it around, searching for the attacker.

"Who's there?" he stuttered. He swung in a full circle, shinning the bright light in wide arcs. Lightning arched across the dark, cloudy sky, lighting up the night but revealing nothing. A deafening crack of thunder followed almost instantaneously. The man backed up towards the steep slope. He grasped at the ground, looking for something that could be used as a weapon.

From behind him the dark shape seemed to materialize out of the slope. It hit him square in the back and knocked him over. Terrified, the young man swung the flashlight and hit his attacker. The attacker stumbled for a moment but recovered quickly. It moved behind a large pine tree.

"H-h-ey you," he stammered. "Get back here." He moved carefully toward the tree, holding the flashlight out in front of him like a shield. He moved slowly, stirring up leaves with his feet. The rain slowed for a moment as he neared the tree. "I-I-I'm warning you. Where'd you go?"

Tony saw something moving on his left. A flash of lightning lit the sky, illuminating a dark humanoid figure creeping up behind the man. It moved quickly under the sound cover of the thunder and hit the young man over the head. He crumpled to the ground with barely a sound.

Watching warily, Tony laid still. The figure slowly straightened up. _Who?_ That's all Tony could think. It picked up the flashlight and shined it over towards Tony. Finding him, it walked over knelt on the ground. The bright light made it so Tony couldn't see who it was. The dark figure spoke, making Tony's heart leap for joy.

"Tony," said Ziva. "Are you okay?"

"Ziva? Is that you?"

The light moved and illuminated Ziva's face. Tony let out a deep sigh. "Thank goodness. Are you okay? What happened to you? Where's the goon who took you? What-"

Ziva held up a hand, smiling. "Calm down Tony, I'm fine. The one who took me thought he could overpower a mere woman by himself." She shifted closer to Tony and placed the flashlight on a nearby rock. "Needless to say I reeducated him."

Tony chuckled. "So where is he now?"

"Taking a nap in the car he was supposed to drive off with me in it."

"Wow. Remind me to never get on your bad side."

"You already knew that Tony." Ziva leaned over him. "I saw you fall. Are you hurt?"

Tony sobered quickly. "Yeah. Twisted my foot or something and I think I may have broken a few ribs."

Lightning flashed. Ziva mumbled in Hebrew than unzipped Tony's jacket. She ran her hand across Tony's ribcage. Tony hissed as she touched his side. "Yeah, right there."

"I don't feel any broken bones, but I don't want to probe too deeply." Ziva zipped his jacket back up, stood, and offered a hand. "Let's see if you can walk."

Tony took the offered hand and rose to his feet. Leaves were still stuck all over his body. Tony straightened and winced. He tried to take a step and had to grasp a nearby tree to keep from falling over. "Yeah, feels like a bad sprain or a break." Tony hopped to a nearby rock and sat down.

Ziva bit her lip in worry. She had felt the blood on Tony's hand as she helped him up. She shined the flashlight down, lifted his pant leg, and whistled. Tony's leg was wet, swollen, and bruised. "I don't dare take your shoe off for hurting you more. You need a doctor."

"Like we're going to find one out here."

Ziva straightened and looked around. She walked to a nearby tree and broke a large branch off. Using her knife, she cut all but one thick limb off. She handed it to Tony. "See if you can walk with this."

Tony grumbled and stood. Leaning heavily on the crutch he hobbled a few feet away and stopped. Looking at Ziva he grimaced. "Not exactly a pair of crutches."

"It will have to do." A moan caught their attention. The young man by the pine tree was starting to stir. Ziva looked at Tony. "Do you have your handcuffs still?"

"What? Um… yeah." Tony pulled them out. For whatever reason the two guys hadn't taken the cuffs when they took his badge and threw it in a garbage can.

"Good. Hand them over." Ziva took the cuffs walked over to the young man. She dragged him over to where the older man still lay and handcuffed them together. Then she pulled out her own handcuffs and attached them first to Tony's cuffs, then around a young, but strong sapling tree. Stepping away she looked at her handiwork and walked back to Tony. "That should hold them until we can get back here."

"Where are we going now?"

"To rescue McGee of course."

"How? He could be gone for all we know."

"Well we won't know until we go look, now will we." Ziva stood and gestured towards Tony's torso. "Unless you want to wait out in the rain for an ambulance to try and make its way down into this gulley."

Tony sighed. "Point taken." Using his tree branch Tony hobbled after Ziva, who led the way with the flashlight. "You know a good way back up this hill?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ziva and Tony picked their way carefully up the slope. The shouts of the men they left behind could be heard for a few hundred feet, but past that they were easily masked by the falling rain. The lighting and thunder had stopped for a brief time, making the only source of light the flashlight in Ziva's hand. Ziva eventually started walking beside Tony to light his way after he had tripped and fallen twice.

About twenty minutes after his second slip, Tony slipped a third time. He cursed as he lost his footing and fell forwards on his knees. Ziva half-caught him on the way down and gently helped him back to his feet. She took a look at his face and saw his pale complexion. She silently bet that if it wasn't for the rain Tony would be sweating profusely.

"Tony, let's take a break." Ziva looked around. "There's a large rock beneath that pine. Can you make it that far?"

"Yeah, of course," scoffed Tony with a smile. He limped over and sat down on the mercifully dry rock. Ziva perched on a smaller, but taller rock and rested the flashlight in her lap. The two sat in silence, the only noise being the falling rain on the ground and trees around them.

After a moment, Ziva looked at Tony. He was staring at the ground and breathing hard. Ziva knelt by him.

"Tony, are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine, why do you ask?" he said in a rush.

"You seem…out of air."

"That's 'out of breath'."

"Regardless, you are not breathing normally." Tony looked at Ziva then looked back at the ground. "Well?"

"It's getting harder to breath past the bruised ribs."

"Well why didn't you say so? We could have slowed down?"

"We need to find McGee. Who knows what those goons are doing to him right now."

"There was only one man left in the cabin. Perhaps McGee has him in custody and is looking for us."

"Yeah right David. Did you see the knock he took? I wouldn't be surprised if he's still out cold."

Ziva silently agreed. She returned to her place on the rock and sat thinking.

"Any calls from the phone?" asked Tony.

Ziva pulled Tony's half-broken phone from her waterproof pocket, where she had placed it after Tony gave it to her for safe keeping. "No, I can't even tell if you have a signal or if the call is still going. For all I know it could have just died."

Tony shook his head in frustration and stood up. "We'd better get going then."

"Tony wait-" Tony started to walk on. Ziva sighed and followed, her worry growing. _I hope there isn't more wrong than he is admiting._

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

After hiking for another ten minutes the pair finally found the path Tony originally fled down. A short walk later and they found the cabin all the drama had started at. Ziva turned the flashlight off and the two carefully snuck up on the cabin. Tony suddenly kicked something heavy. He exclaimed in a whisper as he almost fell once again. Ziva reached down and stood up with a gun in her hand.

"Tony, what's your gun's serial number."

Tony rattled off the number.

Ziva smiled and handed the gun to him. "Looks like your _goons_ dropped your gun while chasing you."

Tony grinned and shoved his gun into its holster. _At least Gibbs can't smack me for losing my gun now._

The two crept up on the back window and peeked inside. The falling rain blurred out the room, but they could see two humans in the room. One was pacing back and forth across the room, carrying something in his hand and ranting loudly. The other seemed to be lying up against the wall, unmoving.

Ziva gestured for Tony to crouch down. As he did Ziva pulled out her knife again and carefully slit the screen on the window. She pulled the hood up on her jacket and pulled the drawstrings tight, covering a large portion of her face until only her eyes were visible. Moving slowly, but steadily she slipped the knife between the window pane and the frame of the window. Once through she slowly, almost unperceptively, started rotating the knife. The knife forced the window pane to move up a fraction of an inch. Ziva put her knife away and helped Tony silently to his feet. The two peered through the slit into the room and listened.

"Why did you guys come back here? You were all here a few days ago, why come back? This place was supposed to be secure." The unidentified man had a gun in his hand, (_Probably McGee's _thought Ziva), and was waving it around as he spoke angrily.

"It's a crime scene. Notice the yellow tape?" asked McGee softly.

"What would make you come back? Are there eyes on this place? Who else could be coming? When are they coming?" The man rattled off strings of question, not waiting for an answer. McGee lay still against the wall. The side of his face was bloody and bruised and his eyes were closed.

Ziva eased the window back down and helped Tony move around the side of the cabin, away from any windows. They took shelter beneath the porch deck that faced the steep slope, out of the rain.

"I only saw one guy, but there is only one door as well, and McGee is far from it. Bursting it could be tricky," said Ziva.

Tony bit his lip. "I'm not in the condition to be bursting in," he said with an edge to his voice.

"We can't leave McGee for long. That man was getting violent. He'll probably just kill McGee and leave if we don't act soon."

"I know, I know." Tony peaked around the edge of the porch to the front door. A sudden crack of lightning and a burst of thunder caused them both to jump. Lighting lit up the sky like a firework display. The storm had somehow moved right over them, and it was going in full furry. Thunder echoed across the forest almost every few seconds, deafening them. Tony looked up towards the sky, then back at Ziva.

"I have an idea. Can you act like a ninja again?"

"What's a ninja?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Drew was agitated. He had one agent when he was supposed to have three, none of the other guys had checked in for several hours, and the storm was getting to him. He hated thunderstorms. It was a past childhood terror that he had never really gotten over. They were just so creepy and wild. He paced the floor back and forth, back and forth. The injured agent seemed out cold, making the chains he had fastened around his ankles to the pole bolted to the floor and ceiling redundant. Drew glanced out the side window. The thunder and lightning had started back up, harder than ever. He snorted in disgust then sat on the single bed in an attempt to calm down. Looking around the small room he wondered where the others could have gone.

A particularly loud flash of thunder shook the two windows in the room. Drew flew to his feet and cursed loudly. He stomped over the closest window and looked outside. A second flash of lightning arched across the sky, followed by the thunder, somehow louder than the first. Drew flinched visibly and turned around. The rain seemed louder than normal. Moving to the other window that faced the woods he stopped suddenly. It was open. It was open all the way. He knew for a fact he had closed it when the storm started.

Drew looked down at McGee. He didn't think the chains were long enough to reach the window.

A thump sounded in the front room. Closing the window with a snap, he cocked the gun he still had in his hand. Carefully he held the gun in front of himself and walked slowly to the doorway.

The front door was securely bolted and the room was empty with the exception of a few chairs and a table. Ever so carefully, Drew moved around the room, checking behind the chairs and under the table for… something. Nothing.

Drew dropped the gun to his side and shook his head at his own fantasies. He stalked back to the bedroom, disgusted. At the doorway, he froze. _He's gone…_ McGee was gone. The chains sat unlocked and neatly stacked in a pile next to the pole.

_Boom_

Thunder rattled the windows. Drew blinked a few times then turned back to the front room. A flash of lightning lit the room a bit. Two large shadows stood in the center of the room.

The overhead lights flipped on. The three agents he had lured to the cabin stood in the front room. One stood braced against the door and had a gun pointed in his direction. The women had a large, scary knife in one hand and was supporting the last agent with her other arm.

Tony stared down the supposed 'boss' of the goons who had chased him. He stood with a gun in his hand held limply to his side. He had a look of surprise and a trace of fear frozen on his face, just staring. Tony glanced sideways at Ziva, who shrugged slightly. McGee, spoke softly. "His name is Drew."

Tony nodded and faced Drew once more. "Drew what's-your-last-name, you are under arrest for assault and attempted kidnapping of three federal agents. Put the gun down."

Drew stood there looking between the three agents. The gun stayed at his side.

"Drew, come on buddy. You're outnumbered, and I don't want to shoot you if I can help it. I want to go home, get some dry clothes, and sleep for the next twelve hours. Just put down the gun before you cause more trouble."

Drew flinched and unfroze. He started cocking the gun, then seemed to think better of it. He sighed and slowly put his hands in the air. He put the gun on a small table next to him and kneeled down.

Ziva carefully helped McGee into a chair. She moved behind Drew and picked up the gun. Tony lowered his own gun and leaned against the door with a gratefully sigh. McGee pulled out his handcuffs and tossed them to Ziva.

"Wow, these guys really don't know anything about kidnapping people," mumbled Tony. He hobbled over to another empty chair and sat down. He rested his faithful crutch on the arm of the chair and looked at McGee. "Okay there Probie?"

"Fine," said McGee simply. "Raging headache, a little dizzy, but fine. I faked the unconsciousness so he would stop pestering me with questions."

Tony laughed and winced as the movement jarred his injured ribs. Ziva dragged Drew into the back room and chained him to the same pole McGee had been attached to. She made sure she took the keys with her instead of leaving them on the bed like Drew had.

Back in the front room, McGee called Gibbs on the landline while Ziva and Tony did some basic documenting of the crime scene as well as describing to Gibbs where they left the other men who had tried to kidnap them. After a few minutes they all ended up sitting in easy chairs next to the cold fireplace with Drew visible through the open doorway.

Tony stretched out in the lazy boy chair and looked out the window. The rain had turned to a drizzle and the thunder and lightning had moved off into the distance. He propped his injured foot up on the coffee table and sighed. The three sat in silence, finally able to relax.

"Hey Ziva," said McGee.

"Yeah."

"Can I ask a silly question?"

"Of course McGee. Ask away."

"Well, I was sitting in that room chained to the pole. Then suddenly you were there, the chains were unlocked, and we were standing." McGee trailed off in thought, then looked quizzically at Ziva. "Where did you come from and how did I not notice you?"

Ziva smiled. "It wasn't anything all impressive. If I was still with the Mossad I would have been…chastised for being so loud. I made too much noise coming window."

"But still..."

Tony gave a short laugh. "She did the same thing to me. I was lying on the ground, expecting to be dragged to my feet, when she materialized out of the forest and took out those two guys."

"And Tony thought I was going to take him out next."

"Did not!"

"You said so yourself."

"That… was a statement made out of relief and gratitude."

"Wow Tony, I didn't know you could feel so deeply."

"Shut up McGee."

The three burst into laughter. Flashing red and blue lights lit up the room from the outside and the three agents were swept up in a flurry of activity. Gibbs took one look at his special agents and sent all three to the hospital. With only one ambulance Ziva took a seat in the front while McGee and Tony were loaded in the back. Due to his possible broken ribs and broken foot Tony was forced onto a gurney, much to his distaste.

McGee and Tony rode in the back of the ambulance in silence. McGee was holding an ice pack to his head and Tony was twiddling his thumbs.

"Tony."

"Yeah."

"Did she really just appear out of thin air and take out those other two guys?"

Tony looked over. He thought about it for a moment. "It felt like it. It was just dark and gloomy enough I couldn't ever see her until she was moving. I couldn't actually tell it was her until she spoke."

McGee thought for a moment. "Yeah, that's how I felt to." McGee leaned back in his seat and stared at the wall, thinking. Tony relaxed back on the gurney as well. He replayed the evening's events in his mind, watching Ziva materialize as a dark shape out of trees, from behind rocks, and out of the very ground.

_She's a ninja_. _An Israeli ninja. _He smiled as he replayed the scene in his head. _Glad she's a ninja on our side._

**The End**


End file.
